How many bowling balls could be placed inside the red giant star Antares?

Answer 1

This is technically not an astronomy question, but a math question. Here is the procedure for calculating the number :

From an astronomy source (see related link), find the estimated diameter of the red giant star Antares (Alpha Scorpii), in meters.

Go to the local Bowling alley and determine the diameter of a bowling ball, in meters.

Go to a math site or book to locate the formula for calculating the volume of a sphere.

Calculate the volume of a bowling ball.

Calculate the volume of Antares.

Divide the volume of Antares by the volume of a bowling ball.

Note: Most calculators are incapable of displaying the resulting number, but Microsoft Excel should, or a calculator Calc module.

PS: You can't put ANY bowling balls into Antares. Antares is a red giant star, with a surface temperature far higher than the vaporization temperature for the resin used for bowling balls. They would first melt, then boil, and then the vapor blown away into space with the solar wind. This is assuming there was some way to get them there.

PPS: The estimations of the size of Antares aren't nearly accurate enough to make any kind of comparison, only a suggestion of the order of magnitude. An approximation is 1039 or 1000 trillion trillion trillion bowling balls, depending on how they are stacked and on the size of any finger holes (which on a typical ball represent 2% to 3% of the total volume). PPPS: Note on the first solution algorithm. Agreed that this isn't an astronomy question but a mathematical one. The answer can't possibly have any practical usefulness, but might be an interesting calculation project. Applying a simple division of areas is not the best solution because it amounts to a kind of 'cubing' of the balls and a serious over-estimate of their number. The inevitable (and considerable) space left between balls is assumed to be taken up by balls and this clearly is not the case, disregarding the fact that the balls could never actually exist within the star, as already pointed out. You would have to apply some math to determine exactly how much space is taken up by the most efficient packing of like-sized balls together. This solution itself is a bit of a trick. It is not clear whether the above approximation takes this calculation into account. I don't believe the finger holes would make any significant difference; the question asks about the number of balls, and whether or not the holes are filled in will have practically no affect on that calculated number.